Barbara Boxer to Introduce Bill to Abolish Electoral College

Retiring liberal Senator Barbara Boxer, a staunch supporter of Hillary Clinton during the presidential election, is gearing up to introduce a Senate bill that would end the Electoral College.

After Hillary Clinton’s stunning loss, where she won the national popular vote and lost the Electoral College, many Democrats have been called for abolishing the current system and ushering in a new system that honors the popular vote.

Boxer announced in a statement on Tuesday that the bill, which she planned to introduce imminently, would determine the winner of presidential elections by the outcome of the national popular vote.

“In my lifetime, I have seen two elections where the winner of the general election did not win the popular vote,” Boxer said in her statement. “The Electoral College is an outdated, undemocratic system that does not reflect our modern society, and it needs to change immediately. Every American should be guaranteed that their vote counts.”

In the 2016 race, the Democratic nominee received some 800,000 more votes than her rival — 61,329,657 to 60,530,867. This is similar to the 2000 race between Al Gore and George W. Bush. In that race, Gore received over 500 thousand more votes than George Bush, but still lost the election.

Senator Boxer’s bill is a longshot to say the least, as among other things, it would require a constitutional amendment, meaning that not only will it require a two thirds majority of both the House and the Senate, but also a full three quarters of the states.

For his part, the President-elect has remained consistent in praising anything as long as it works to his advantage. On Tuesday, Trump reversed course on his harsh criticism of the Electoral College. It is no longer a ‘disaster,’ but now is ‘genius.’

The Electoral College is actually genius in that it brings all states, including the smaller ones, into play. Campaigning is much different!

He also claimed that he would have won the popular vote if that were the system because he would have campaigned differently, specifically claiming that he would have won the popular votes in California, and New York if he had spent more time campaigning in those states.

If the election were based on total popular vote I would have campaigned in N.Y. Florida and California and won even bigger and more easily